TOKYO -- Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn wants to relaunch retro-brand Datsun with a price tag as low as US$3,000 when it hits the road in 2014, a report said.

The company will target drivers in developing nations — India, Indonesia and Russia — offering the barebones model at prices that put it well below current Nissan offerings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper, citing interviews with Ghosn and other executives, said Nissan is aiming for six Datsun models at between US$3,000 and US$5,000, a price that only a handful of Indian- and Chinese-made cars could compete with.

To cut costs, the company will source parts almost entirely from the country in which the finished product is to be made and sold.

And the absence of rigorous safety standards that would be applied to models aimed at the U.S. or European markets will also help keep the price down, the paper reported.

“If you go to the U.S., it's not going to end up being US$3,000,” Ghosn told the paper in an article published Monday.